USTER? QUANTUM 3 creates milestone

The market success of the clearer has been accelerated by the launch of the latest version of the USTER® QUANTUM 3, which offers new features targeting intelligent quality management at specific fashion-oriented applications.

The world-leading USTER® QUANTUM 3 generation of yarn clearers is set to reach a notable milestone in the autumn months, when the one millionth unit will be produced at USTER headquarters in Switzerland. The market success of the clearer has been accelerated by the launch of the latest version of the USTER® QUANTUM 3, which offers new features targeting intelligent quality management at specific fashion-oriented applications.

USTER is preparing to celebrate the production of its one millionth USTER® QUANTUM 3 clearer, which has enjoyed unprecedented sales since its launch in 2010. Pioneering concepts such as Smart Limits and the YARN BODY have made the clearer an attractive choice for more than thousand mills worldwide, and the introduction of the USTER® QUANTUM 3 Anniversary Edition in 2015 has increased that appeal significantly.

On-trend… and on-quality

Spinning mills need to act fast to take advantage of important fashion trends. But yarns which hit the spot in terms of aesthetic appeal must also meet the exacting quality standards required in certain of these specialised applications. The latest edition of the successful USTER® QUANTUM 3 yarn clearer addresses both these demands, thanks to new features, which allow spinners to deliver yarns, which are on trend and also on quality.

Core yarn clearing and colour/shade variation are unique innovations, which put spinners in control of quality and avoid claims and complaints in important applications such as stretch denim and sportswear, and in the newly-fashionable market for melange and subtly-coloured yarns.

The core yarn clearing feature with USTER® QUANTUM 3 is the first-ever automated solution to monitoring and assuring the quality of yarns with an elastane centre encased by a cotton or synthetic outer. Fabrics with stretch and fancy slub effects created in this way continue to be extremely popular in both fashion items such as denim jeans and in functional garments and sports clothing.

Common problems when producing these yarns can occur when the inner elastane component is either missing or positioned off-centre within the wrapper element. The core yarn clearing feature uses powerful sensors and algorithms to detect any such problems and ensures that downstream customers receive a stretch yarn, which perfectly meets their specifications. Using the built-in Smart Limits facility, the correct tolerances can be set quickly and easily, so that any bobbins containing core defects are blocked and removed.

The new shade variation (SV) feature of the USTER® QUANTUM 3 overcomes several potential problems which can lead to unacceptable colour and shade differences. This is particularly important for spinners operating in the growing market for melange and colour-effect yarns. Here, human error can cause bobbins of differing colours or shades to be accidentally mixed in a single yarn lot.

If that occurs, the problem can be difficult or impossible to identify in the yarn with the naked eye. And a single rogue bobbin can ruin a yarn lot, leading to disastrous and conspicuous results such as a barre effect in the final fabric. The risks of a mistake are often magnified by the insufficiently controlled process, inadequate lighting conditions in mills, and the possibility of operatives with poor eyesight or imperfect colour vision.

Today, latest technology in the USTER® QUANTUM 3 and its SV facility provides a separated clearing channel which deals specifically with colour deviations. When clearing limits are set, the SV feature immediately starts checking the bobbin as it runs on the winding machine, after which the continuous shade variation (CSV) takes over to monitor the entire length of the bobbin, based on reference data which enables detection of even the most subtle variations in melange yarns.

Tradition of innovation

“It’s more that we hoped for, how much the new core yarn clearing and the colour/SV features have been appreciated. And we are proud to have already reached the milestone this year of one million USTER® QUANTUM 3 clearers sold, thanks to this boost,” says Andreas Gantenbein, Product Manager Yarn Clearing within Uster Technologies. The effort USTER makes to maintain its strong innovation tradition has once again been recognised by spinners worldwide. This success will be celebrated on the day the one millionth clearer is produced. Whenever USTER stages an event of this type, the company reaffirms its continuing commitment to innovation. “Yarn clearers will help customers keep in step with fashion trends – and will always be developed to be a sound investment for the future,” says Gantenbein.

Uster is the leading high-technology instrument manufacturer of products for quality measurement and certification for the textile industry. The Group provides testing and monitoring instruments, systems and services that allow optimisation of quality through each individual stage of textile production. This includes raw textile fibres, such as cotton or wool, all staple fibre and filament yarns.